OREGON, Ohio — It's been just a few days since Oregon police released body camera footage of their encounter with Victor Dale Jr. last weekend.
Officers fired 21 shots and Dale was struck twice trying to flee the scene of a domestic situation. The Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation is reviewing the officers' actions to see if their use of force was justified.
"Shootings into vehicles has been a phenomenon, that is a thorny issue in police training for the last 50 years," said Quinnipiac University professor Khalfani Ture.
Ture teaches criminal justice and policing and has also worked as a police officer at three different agencies in the Atlanta area. He said Oregon Officer Joel Turner should not have stepped in front of Dale's vehicle, adding officers are trained to not put themselves in harm's way.
"I don't know the wisdom in placing oneself in harm and this is why the department of justice says 'hey don't do that'," said Ture.
After Officer Turner was hit by Dale's car, the officers fired 21 shots at the vehicle. Ture said officers are trained to use whatever appropriate force necessary to incapacitate a suspect. But he says 21 shots was "overkill" and the U.S. Department of Justice states shooting at moving vehicles is ineffective and dangerous to the public.
"What was the alternative to lethal force, again, I would argue," Ture said, "they simply could've pursued the vehicle, especially that they ascertained that he was under the influence, they could've pursued the vehicle and called for backup."
And Ture said reform has to be made to prevent non-violent incidents like this from turning violent. He compared Dale's case to Rayshard Brooks, who was shot and killed by Atlanta officers just weeks ago and said police aren't trained for these situations.
"Call for police departments to recruit co-respondents such as health care workers, social workers," he said, 'who are better equipped to intervene in mental health crises, homelessness, substance abuse and domestic conflict."
Ture believes police need to focus on more training in de-escalation tactics and implicit bias than use of force to assure better interactions with the community.